If you’re referring to some states, and not the whole country, then use the states.

Filed under: Capitalizing Tagged: capitalization, Christopher Kim, proofreading, writing, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Style]]>https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/which-states-are-you-referring-to/feed/0Laurathe states styThis looks uncannily similar to a sentencehttps://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/this-looks-uncannily-similar-to-a-sentence/
https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/this-looks-uncannily-similar-to-a-sentence/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:00:15 +0000http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=77666]]>It starts with a capital letter and it ends with a period. Must be a sentence. But since it’s on Yahoo! Makers, it also must have a mistake or two or three:

Of course, there’s the misspelled psychedelic. Then there’s the implication some dresses are familiar with the “pyschedelic” swirl. And they’re not just any dresses, they’re Missioni’s dresses. What’s wrong with that? The swirl is similar to designs on Missoni‘s dresses.

Filed under: Misspellings Tagged: bad spelling, editing, misspelling, proofreading, spelling, Yahoo!, Yahoo! front page]]>https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/how-much-does-corn-cost-in-tampa-bay/feed/0Laurafp bucaneersDo you have to take it off the wall?https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/do-you-have-to-take-it-off-the-wall/
https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/do-you-have-to-take-it-off-the-wall/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 02:00:35 +0000http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=77657]]>How does one linger on a president’s portrait? Do you take it off the wall, lay it down on the floor, and rest your head on Mr. Clinton? What do you say when the guards at the National Portrait Gallery try to haul you away? You tell them you’re just following the advice you read on Yahoo! Style:

Might I suggest that next time, you linger at the portrait. It’s less likely to get you thrown in the slammer.

In the U.S., commas and periods go before the closing quote mark. Colons and semicolons go after the quote mark. But exclamation marks and question marks can go before or after the quotation mark, depending on meaning. A question mark goes before the closing quote mark only if the words within the quotation marks are an actual question. That means that the writer thinks “Fifty shades of Grey” is the question. It is not.

Most words beginning with H are preceded by a, not an because the H is pronounced: a head, a heart, a hand. But some words beginning with H are preceded by an, not a because they start with a vowel sound: an hour, an honor, an honest mistake.